Chance of a lifetime
Unathi Shologu and Tremaine van Aardt
AT the age of 11, Bakier Salie is set to live out his dream of becoming an international footballer, after being picked to go to Portugal to train with the Benfica and Lisbon soccer academies.
The young West End resident will be accompanied by 130 football players, officials, coaches and referees from the Northern Areas Football Association (Nafa) who will be attending a coaching clinic at the academies.
Salie is the youngest in the group. "I will prove that I belong among the world's best and will do whatever it takes to ensure that I am one of the selected players that will stay and train with the academy," the West End Primary Grade 6 pupil said.
Bakier started playing soccer at the age of four. His coach, Roy Mitchell, spotted him playing at Schoenies. Mitchell immediately saw talent in Bakier and introduced him to Swallows.
"He is like a mini [Lionel] Messi. Pass him the ball and he will make something happen. Right foot or left foot it doesn't matter, he will put them in the net," said Mitchell
"Bakier was so excited that when he started playing centre forward he scored goals and was top goal scorer at under-9 level. He was also chosen to play for the Nafa in 2010. Because he was too young we felt that he could go when he was a little bigger," said Shireen Salie, Bakier's mother.
Bakier draws inspiration from his uncle Tashrique Goldman, who is a prominent Premier Soccer League player. To get a step closer to his dream, Bakier will need R21000 for the tour and his parents have embarked on fundraising campaigns.
"Our family are all excited for Bakier. He is very young but I have trained him to be responsible at all times and to make the right decisions," said Shireen.
The tour will see the group spending two days in Paris sightseeing before moving on to the football academies for a 10-day training schedule.